Directory for commercial buildings and apartment-houses.



B. v. STODDARD. I DIRECTORY FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS AND APARTMENTHOUSES. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6, 1908.

985,704. Patented 0ct.5,1909.

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ADLER, VINCENT L.

ALLEN, RM.

AMBROSE K.

BALL, (550.0.

BARNARD, J.L. BLACK, aw.

BURNS H.T.

CALAHAN, P. COLER,A.A.

CLARK, H.L.

COLBY, H.C.

cRAMER co.

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- E. V. STODD'ARD.

DIRECTORY FOB COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS AND APARTMENT HOUSES. APPLICATIONFILED NOV. 6-, 1908.

935.704. Patented 001;.5, 1909.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ENOCI-I V. STODDARD, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

DIRECTORY FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS AND APARTMENT-HOUSES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ENOOI-I V. STODDARD, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Directoriesfor Cornmercial Buildings and Apartment-Houses, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to directories for commercial buildings andapartment houses, and its object is to provide one that can be expanded,or rearranged to meet different requirements and changing conditions. Tothis end it is built up of separable units that can be oined to build upas large a directory as required, when it is set up in the first instance, or subsequently to meet new requirements, for the inclosingframe is adapted to be extended to accommodate any number of name-platepanels.

Other novel features of the invention are found in the means forremovably supporting the name-plates within the panels.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a front elevation of one panel or unit ofthe frame; Fig. 2 is its central vertical section; Fig. 3 is itshorizontal section; Fig. 1 is a view similar to Fig. 8, but showing aname-plate partially removed; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of aname-plate; Fig. 6 is a front view of a two-panel frame, with the panelsand doors in place; Fig. 6 is part of a vertical section through thecenter of one of the panels of Fig. 6, showing the panel in its place inthe lower rail; Fig. 7 is a horizontal cross-section of the same; Fig. 8is a perspective view of one of the corner-blocks of the frame; Fig. 9is a partial perspective view of the topra-il of the frame; and Fig. 10is a partial perspective view of the end-stile.

One of the units, or panels, of the directory is shown apart from theframe in Figs. 1- l, inclusive, of the drawings. Referring to thesefigures, it is seen that the sides, or stiles, of the panel each has atongue 3 on the outer edge, that the top piece 1 also has a tongue 3 onits edge, and that the bottom piece 5 has a recess 3 Instead of therecess 8 in the bottom piece 5 there may be a tongue 3*, as representedin Fig. 6 when the directory is designed for horizontal extension only,or is only one panel long. Referring still to the panel shown mostclearly in Figs. 1%, inclusive, one of the stiles 2, for example, has arabbet 6 its whole length, and in the back thereof a number of slots 7,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 6, 1908.

Patented Oct. 5, 1909.

Serial No. 461,410.

which serve to hold the name plates 8 in place. These name plates (seeFig. 5) are each straight, fiat pieces of a material that is suitable,and are, respectively, tapered down at one end, where a lug 9 is locatedthat is adapted to enter the slots 7, whereas their opposite ends are,respectively, adapted to enter the recesses 10 in the stile 1, whereeach lies against a projecting rib 11. The ends of the plates 8 thatcarry the lugs 9 are held within the stile 2 by an overlapping piece 12,that is hinged to it, and adapted to fold down upon it. l/Vhen a nameplate is to be removed from the panel, the piece 12 is swung outwardly,as shown in Fig. 1, till it uncovers the tapered ends of the nameplates. hen one or more name plates have been removed, those remainingare held in place by the lugs 9 within the slots 7.

A glass door 18 may, if desired, be hinged to the head piece 4 of eachpanel, and both the head and bottom pieces of the door beveled on theirinner face so that it closes tightly against said pieces, as shown inFig. 2. In Figs. 1, 3 and 4, the door 13 is omitted in order that theposition of the name plates may be seen clearly.

The frame which is adapted to contain one or more of the panels justdescribed is shown in Figs. 6 to 10, inclusive. It comprises cornerblocks l t that are mortised and dovetailed to the top and bottompieces, as shown in Figs. 8 to 10, inclusive. These Figs. 8, 9 and 10are so grouped in the drawings that they illustrate the manner in whichboth the top and bottom rails 16 and the side rails 15 are oined withthe corner piece 14:, since they are shown in these figures in theirproper relative positions and only sufficiently withdrawn from eachother to show the construction of each.

The side rails 15 of the containing frame have recesses 17 in theirinner faces, to re ceive the tongues 3 that project from the sides ofthe panels previously described, and the top and bottom rails 16 of theframe are also recessed at 18 to receive the tongues 3 (see Fig. 9). Thedoors 18, previously described, are held down upon the frame by suitablemeans, as latches 19.

The frame is readily expansible in either a vertical or horizontaldirection to receive additional panels. When expanded horizontally, topand bottom rails 16 are used, which are mortised and dovetailed at bothends in the manner shown in Fig. 9 with respect to one end of a rail 16,by Way of illustration. It should be noted that the ends of rails 16 areso mortised that they respectively fit the corner piece l-it, when thedirectory is one section in width, and that the rails 16- are eachmortised at one end to fit one end of any of the rails 16, and at itsother end to fit a corner piece 14:, (see Fig. 6.)

It is obvious that if the directory is to be wider than the two sectionsshown in Fig. 6, all that need be done is to insert between the cornerpieces 14 at the left of Fig. 6 and the top and bottom rails 16additional rails like 16% and place a panel within the extension of theframe. It is also obvious that when the frame is to be extendedvertically, all that needs be done is to insert, on each side, a railthat is mortised at each end to correspond, respectively, with themortised ends of the rails 16, and is equal in length to the length ofthe panel.

In order to adapt a panel for both horizontal and vertical extension,its lower end should be recessed, as shown by 3" in Fig. 2, in whichcase the recess will receive the tongue 3 on the other section when onesection is mounted on the other. If such a section is used alone, oralongside another, the tongue 3 on its top rail and the tongues 3 on itsside rails are sufficientto hold the section within the frame.

V hen the directory is extended horizontally a secondary tongue 3 on oneend of the tongues 3 enters a corresponding recess 3 in the adjacenttongue 3 of the next section.

' As each section is provided wit-h a secondary tongue and recess on'thesame side, respectively, this feature is also adapted for horizontalextension.

The whole structure is supported from the wall on suitable brackets, orrests upon the floor.

What I claim is 1. An expansible frame for a building directory and likepurposes, comprising corner pieces 14; corresponding top and bottomrails 16; corresponding side rails 15; and corresponding pieces forextension 16; the said corner pieces being mortised; the said top,bottom and side rails being mortised to correspond therewith; and thesaid extension pieces being mortised to fit between corner pieces onthesame side of the frame and the rails aforesaid; and means for securingtogether adjacent parts of the frame.

2. An expansible building directory, comprising a plurality of similarname plate sections or panels, adapted to lie side by side forhorizontal extension, said sections or panels having means for retainingthem together or end to end for vertical extension and adapted toreceive and hold one of said sections, or several of them, both inhorizontal and in vertical extension, comprising corner pieces, top,bottom, side rails and extension pieces, corresponding with thedimensions of said sections, all mortised to fit one another in positionsubstantially as shown and described.

ENOCH V. STODDARD. lVitnesses C. S. DAVIS, D. GURNEE.

